Dubai Mandatory Health Insurance Now Covering Hepatitis

Combating the Liver Disease

Dubai Health Authority (DHA) has recently included Hepatitis C coverage within its basic insurance scheme. Hepatits C is one of the most common liver diseases. There are different types of Hepatitis virus. Without treatment, Hepatitis C can lead to liver failure and even death; although it’s not the most dangerous form of Hepatitis. If the virus is not eliminated in time, it can cause other deadly liver diseases such as cancer or cirrhosis.

Under this initiative, DHA has made another successful step in enhancing its mandatory health insurance benefits; the ultimate goal is to provide high quality medical coverage beyond previous basic standards.

Diagnosis is the first milestone in the process. Once a patient is detected with Hepatitis C, the DHA monitoring centre is automatically notified and responsibly follows up with the treatment till the HCV virus is eliminated and the patient is released.

Emirati Medical Insurance Initiatives

This hasn’t been the first health initiative undertaken by Emirati health insurance authority. Let’s look back at December 2017 when the Basmah initiative was launched and screening services for certain heart diseases and diabetes were added to mandatory medical governmental policies.

In the same year, DHA extended its basics to cover certain types of cancer including both, screening and treatment.

The recent Hepatitis C initiative is further proof of the will of Emirati health authority in developing its governmental insurance package. His Excellency Al Qutami, Director of the DHA declared that the aim of DHA is to provide Dubai residents with high quality services. The ultimate goal is the entire community having access to preventive screening mechanisms for Hepatitis C and other potentially serious diseases via early detection.

Compulsory Health Coverage for Dubai Residents

Since His Excellency Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced the new health insurance regulations in November 2013, reaching high medical standards has been a priority to Dubai Health authority. At present, a basic health insurance plan is mandatory for all residents in Dubai; anyone found to be in breach of the health law risks being fined or even expulsion in certain cases.

The mandatory health insurance scheme aims to guarantee basic medical coverage and is linked to the issuance of resident visas. With the exception of specific circumstances, everybody in Dubai has to be an insurance holder. Statistics estimate a 98% of the population is now covered by a medical policy, be it the governmental basic mandatory policy or a private one. Medical coverage goes hand in hand with working contracts in the majority of cases; which means companies are responsible for insuring their employees and providing them with a health policy.

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